#101: 9 Little known fun facts

Diamond is not the hardest substance on Earth. In 2009, scientists announced that lonsdaleite (aka hexagonal diamond) and wurtzite boron nitride both have greater indentation strengths. Tweet This

Native tribes in Central America invented wheeled toys thousands of years ago. By the time America was colonised however, they had never made a real wheel. Tweet This

In 2002, 15 girls burned to death inside their school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The religious police (aka mutaween) did not allow them to leave the burning building because the girls were not covering their hair. Tweet This

On 24 August 2007, some 50 km (over 30 miles) of the Pacific shoreline in Australia was covered with thick foam. The media called this phenomenon “Cappuccino Coast”. Tweet This

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In talks with US top envoy Henry Kissinger in 1973, the Chinese leader Mao Zedong proposed to export millions of women to the United States. According to him, China was a “very poor country” and “what we have in excess is women.” Tweet This

Until 1948, the non-alcoholic beverage 7 Up contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. Tweet This

During the Cold War and more precisely in the period 1953 – 1976, beams of microwaves of 2.5 to 4.0 GHz were aimed at the US embassy building in Moscow, Russia. The sources were located in a neighbouring apartment building. Tweet This

During World War I, nine villages were totally obliterated around Verdun, France. They have remained uninhabited for more than a century now, but administratively they are alive: there are mayors appointed and occasionally ceremonies such as marriage and baptism are still taking place. Tweet This

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In 1985, Tipper and Al Gore instigated a US Senate hearing, aiming to introduce a system that would label music albums for offensive material. The Gores questioned the morals of Twisted Sister’s frontman, Dee Snider, while he testified. Ironically, the Gores recently divorced while Dee still has a solid marriage and family. Tweet This